Review Blog

Sep 13 2018

Natural born loser by Oliver Phommavanh

Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN 9780143505730
(Age: 10+ ) Highly recommended. Natural born loser is an
inspiring, funny story and promotes being yourself rather than
following the crowd. Raymond is a typical year 6 boy who loves
soccer and being with his best friend but he doesn't see himself as
a leader. He sees himself as a follower and does follow his best
friend around. He isn't all that good at soccer (in his eyes) even
though he practises all of the time. Raymond's school has a bad
reputation for bullies and principals who always leave. But, a new
principal has arrived and he is ready to shake things up. First, the
new principal introduces the idea of prefects to give the students a
voice at school. Raymond and his best friend - Zain - are chosen as
well as two others - Ally and Randa. The new principal wants them to
work as a team and gives them the chance to show leadership and
organisation skills as well as back anything they want to do for
their fundraising efforts. From a dare-a-thon to a car wash to a
sports day, the school and the community really get behind the new
prefects. Can the bullymon (the bully) of the school finally get on
board or will his antics continue to cause chaos? Natural born loser is a fun and an easy to read novel, told from
the perspective of a year 6 boy. It is extremely relatable to
children around this age - from the issues at school to the feelings
Raymond has. Raymond doesn't come from a rich family. His parents
work hard and he goes to the local school. The themes of
multicultural Australia, teamwork and community are prominent. The
multicultural content gives children from different cultural
backgrounds a character in a story that could be just like them. The
idea that the prefects need to work together and lead together
rather than have a captain in charge is relevant today. Natural
born loser has all of the emotions and moments of a great story.
More importantly, the reader sees Raymond change, as the story
progresses, into a leader.
It is highly recommended for readers aged 10+. The underlying themes
would also make it a great novel to study in the class for year 5 to
year 6.
Kylie Kempster